Looking ahead to 2018-19: Head coach Lon Kruger has a big job ahead of him this season. The Sooners lost Young to the NBA and Lattin, their top inside presence. Additional losses are the two guards that he had hoped would take up Young’s slack after he left early — McGusty and Shepherd — bolted after the season. Kruger didn’t have many scholarships to begin with, so he dipped into the graduate transfer pool to find two guards for this season — Calixte and Reynolds. The good news is both of them are pretty good fits. Calixte averaged 11.2 points per game and was an 82 percent free throw shooter at Maine while Reynolds averaged 13.3 points per game and shot 37 percent from the 3-point line. Kruger needs them to contribute immediately. Bieniemy was a Top 10 recruit in the state of Texas, so there’s a chance he could hit the floor right away, too. Most of all Kruger is counting on improvement from the players he has returning. Manek could be one of the conference’s top forwards and, with Young gone, the path is clear for him to be more assertive. Kruger praised the sophomore’s offseason work ethic at media day. McNease will have to assume Lattin’s mantle inside. Doolittle needs to grow as an offensive post. James will need to remain a double-digit scorer and Odomes needs to take a step forward. Kruger has pieces, but it’s going to take most of November and December to work through them. By Big 12 play he’ll need a rotation of eight or nine players and at least one of them to assume that “star” role that Young occupied a year ago. Kruger admitted at media day that the “star” player could be a combination of three or four players.

Media Day quote: “Last year (Manek) was thought of as a stand-still shooter, starting to put the ball on the floor, starting to post up, always been a good rebounder, blocked shots more than expected. So he’s got a bright future. He’s a great player.” — Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger.